


Life isn't always Purr-fect

by AvengersBarnes



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Deaf Clint Barton, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Pets, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 00:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16650508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvengersBarnes/pseuds/AvengersBarnes
Summary: In which Bruce gets a cat and Clint is not impressed.





	Life isn't always Purr-fect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BookWerm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookWerm/gifts).



> Based on a prompt by Bookwermthings on tumblr (BookWerm on Ao3): Bruce and Hulk get a cat. Everyone else in the tower is skeptical. Clint is almost determined to hate it from the start, but gradually comes around and has to admit he was wrong and that he loves the cat. Much cuddling ensues. 
> 
> I think I hit the prompt ok... I sort of added my own twist too.

Clint always thought of himself as pretty laid back. He would watch pretty much any film that the Avengers decided watch, he didn’t really mind what takeout they got for their boardgames night. Hell, he didn’t even get cross at Monopoly, well, not as much as Tony. As long as there was coffee in the jug, cookies in the cupboards and no one touched his bow then he was happy. It really wasn’t too much to ask. So why the hell did Banner, of all people, decide to get the devil’s creature?

Clint had just woken up and was trudging his way to the kitchen, home of his life essence, when he suddenly found himself face-planting the floor. 

“Ouch…” He groaned as he rubbed his nose. There was no blood so probably not broken, he was pretty sure he’d sprained his wrist though. He’d have to get a support before target practice. He stayed there, lying on the ground, for a few minutes. He didn’t just trip over thin air, he’d been known to but not this time. He definitely remembered his shin hitting something before his face hit the ground. 

“You ok there Bird man?” Stark was looking down at him, holding a bundle of black fur that must have been the culprit. “I always thought you preferred the ceiling to the floor.” Tony laughed as he reached out his hand to help him up. The bundle of fur let out a funny meow as Tony shifted it to one hand. Clint stared suspiciously at the fur.

“I like the floor thanks.” He muttered ignoring Tony’s offer. He didn’t need help to get off the floor. He’d worked in a circus for god’s sake, and he didn’t want to get any closer to the fur ball.

“Suit yourself Barton. Coffee is already in the pot. I have some ideas for arrow upgrades if you want to swing by the lab later.” Tony laughed as he walked away, still clutching the fur. 

“Yeah yeah. I’ll swing by, like I’m spider-man or something.” Clint muttered as he hauled his ass off the floor. He could smell the coffee and it was luring him to he kitchen like a moth to the flame. “Sweet sweet coffee as black as my soul.” He sang happily as he launched towards the jug.

“Hey Clint.” Bruce was sat at the breakfast table stirring a cup of whatever herbal shit he liked to drink. “Have you seen Betty?”

“Your ex-girlfriend and partner in mad scientific experiments?” Clint raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t realised Betty had moved into the tower. Sure she often came over to help Bruce with some complicated thesis but they hadn’t exactly had an easy break up, what with the green guy and all. 

“My cat.” Bruce answered calmly as he took a sip of his tea.

“You named your cat after your ex-girlfriend.” Clint wasn’t exactly brilliant at relationships but that didn’t seem healthy even to him.

“I lost a bet with Tony.” Ahh… that explained everything. 

They chatted for a little while until FRIDAY called Bruce down to see Tony in the lab. Clint decided that no one else needed the coffee jug until he was done with it and sauntered off to the games room. To his delight the console was free so he settled down onto the sofa to play a few hours of Skyrim. His character was a highly trained sneak, archer and barterer. He never failed to persuade and he was a lethal assassin with a bow. It was much better than Thor’s character of one handed, shield wielding, lets run screaming into battle and hope for luck method. He was right in the middle of a Dwarven ruin when he was attacked, and not in the game.

“Shit!” He dropped the controller and the empty coffee jug was knocked off the sofa and smashed on the floor. “Aww… coffee…” He mumbled sadly. He’d have to get FRIDAY to order another pot by tomorrow or else he’d have to try and work Tony’s fancy machine. 

“Meow” His attacker clawed at his lap as he tried to get comfortable.

“Ouch! Claws!” He picked up Betty and dropped her on the floor. “Bruce your devil cat broke the coffee pot!” He called, hoping someone would hear.

“That is incorrect. Hawkeye is responsible for the damage.” FRIDAY chimed, like the traitorous AI that she was.

“Gee… Thanks FRIDAY.” He mumbled as he leant down to pick up the controller but it was too late. He’d been cornered by the falmer and it only took one more shot before he crumpled to the ground. “Stupid cat…” He switched off the console and went to go get his bow. It was time to do some real training.

Except the fur ball was following him down the corridor. It sat there watching him as he danced around the training room, avoiding the computer generated missiles and shooting targets with ease. His wrist didn’t bother him that much, and he actually smiled when he noticed Betty had fallen asleep on top of one of the generators. He didn’t like cats though and he was still mad at Tony for not letting him adopt a rescue dog. Apparently Tony was playing favourites. Clint decided it was time to get his own back. If Banner was allowed a cat he was allowed a dog. Dogs were better than cats anyway. He closed down the training system and ran to the garage, almost knocking Sam off his feet as he flew by. 

* * *

“That’s genius! You’re brilliant!” Tony span round and almost knocked Bruce off his feet as Tony flung his arms around him. Bruce blushed a little but returned the hug. It wasn’t that great. Just some minor tweaks to help improve the neurological connections between the engineering and the brain. Bruce hoped it would improve heat and pressure sensors across the whole arm and not just the finger tips. 

“Thanks Tony.” He smiled. Ever since he’d mentioned the difficulties he’d had adjusting to life after the incident, Tony had always made an effort to point out the good he was doing. Bruce suspected it was because the mad genius liked to see him a little flustered. 

“If you two are done flirting. Can we please get my arm reattached? Me and Steve are going to the cinema.” Bucky sighed from where he was perched on Tony’s workbench. His arm was currently in parts next to him and Tony had the schematics projected into the air. 

“Can it Winter. Without this brilliant man here, you’d been stuck with Hydra’s monstrosity.” Tony prodded Bucky with the screwdriver he was holding. Bruce smiled shyly, even after two years of knowing Tony he still couldn’t get used to being called brilliant. He was plagued with nightmares of things the Other Guy had done, he was stupid enough to experiment on himself, he still had days where he could barely get out of bed and Tony still thought he was brilliant. 

“And we’re both very grateful.” Steve smiled happily from the doorway. He was in civilian clothes with a baseball cap on. Apparently none of the Avengers believed him when he said it was a crap disguise. Bucky gave Tony a dazzling grin and hopped off the workbench. 

“You know what. I’ll go without. Less conspicuous without it.” He slung his good arm around Steve as they left the lab.

“You could almost say… he’s armless!” Tony tittered and Bucky yelled back some very colourful language in response which caused both the scientists to burst into laughter. 

Betty came dashing into the lab and climbed up Tony’s legs until she was perched on his shoulders. Tony hissed as her claws dug into his shoulders but didn’t complain. He just gave her scratch under her chin. It had been Tony’s idea for him to get a cat. He’d been looking up different ways to help both his depression and his anger issues and found that the sound of a cat purring was supposed to be very beneficial to humans. Bruce tried to refuse, he didn’t need a therapy cat but Tony insisted that he gave it a try. If he couldn’t find a cat that he fell in love with instantly then they would abandon the idea. If Bruce found a cat he loved, which of course he did, then Tony would get to name it. Bruce regretted agreeing to that bet immensely, Tony’s choice of name was an utter joke but according to him he named Betty after the first person who showed him love after the incident, a reminder to Bruce that he had never been a monster. It was weirdly soppy for Tony and Bruce was starting to come around to the name. 

Their peace and quiet was short lived however, when a three-legged dog came charging in after Betty with Barton barely managing to hold onto the lead. The dog almost bowled them both over and Betty hissed wildly at the dog. 

“What the hell Barton?” Tony yelled at the archer who was barely struggling to keep hold of his dog. Bruce carefully disentangled his cat’s claws from Tony’s shoulder had held her close to his chest. She started purring almost instantly, the vibrations were soothing and warm. Not that Bruce would admit to that, not immediately at least. Tony would never let him live it down. 

“It’s my new dog, I figured the no pet ban was lifted.” Clint grinned, daring Tony to argue with him as he wrestled to get his dog under control. “He’s called Lucky.”

“Betty is a therapy cat.” Tony glared back at the yellow furred mutt. Bruce actually thought it was kinda of cute. He was a little bit broken, just like everyone else here. 

“Lucky is my guide dog.” Clint gestured to his ears and winked. 

“Goddamn it Barton. Fine you win but only if you actually manage to train it as a guide dog.” Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Only if you manage to train the devil cat.” He shot back. 

Bruce laced his fingers with Tony’s. He could feel the small brunet starting to get riled up and a fight in the lab would not end well for anyone. Tony gave his hand a squeeze and Bruce felt some of the tension leave the other man’s body. Clint was still leering suspiciously at Betty who was purring happily against his chest and Tony was visibly recoiling from Lucky like the dog was diseased. Bruce rolled his eyes, he had never understood the whole cat vs dog thing. Why was it always the stupidest things that the Avengers decided to fight about? 

“I have an idea.” Both Avengers turned to face him as if they’d almost forgotten he was there. Tony’s face softened slightly when he looked at him and Bruce fought back another blush. 

“Of course you do. What utterly fantastic plan do you have this time?” Tony winked at him and Bruce lost his fight as the blush warmed his cheeks. He leaned in close, Bruce could feel Tony’s breath tickling the back of his neck “How are we getting rid of the mutt?” Bruce batted Tony away with a playful laugh. 

“Hey! No secret whispering!” Clint whined. Lucky yapped happily and started to chase his tail which caused Betty to hiss again. Bruce did have a plan but it wasn’t going to be easy. The two animals already had taken a dislike to each other but Bruce had seen more mismatched groups come together. The Avengers were case in point.

“Tony and I will train Lucky. You’ll train Betty.” Bruce folded his arms and watched as both men processed his words. 

“That’s hilarious. You’re so funny. Now really what’s the plan?” Tony faked a laugh.

“You can’t seriously expect me to train a cat!?” Clint cried at the same time.

Bruce sighed and handed Betty to Clint. The archer held the cat at arms length, clearly not quite sure how to hold her or what to do. Bruce proceeding to take the dog lead and leant down to stroke the dirty dog. Lucky licked a slobbering kiss right down the middle of his face. It was more than a little bit gross but he laughed all the same. 

“But but… Betty?” Tony stuttered and went to try to grab his cat back from the archer. Bruce grabbed his boyfriend by the arm and pulled him out of the lab. They had a dog to train. 

* * *

Clint was starting to wonder why he ever agreed to join the Avengers. Sure the circus was hell but sometimes it had been fun and they never had to fight off huge alien invasions. He also never had teammates that would throw a feline at him and expect him to train it. Betty was washing herself in the middle of his bed, he had cat fur everywhere and she kept sleeping on top of his bow. The weirdest thing though was the cat’s complete lack of boundaries. Every damn time he wanted a shower the cat would be there, staring at him. He missed Lucky. Lucky never crept into the bathroom when he was butt naked. 

“You need some help?” Nat asked as she leant against his doorway. Her fiery red her was starting to fall down past her shoulders now. It looked beautiful, not that it didn’t look amazing in the wavy bob she’d been sporting more recently, but he really liked it long. Not that he would ever tell her that, he would rather not get murdered in his sleep. She was as lethal as she would beautiful and had the wits to match. 

“You know how to train a cat?” He scratched his back with an arrow, a non explosive arrow. He had made that mistake before and had the scar to prove it. 

“Hiccup can train a dragon, I’m sure two spies can work out how to train a cat.” She raised her eyebrow and gave him a wicked smile. Betty looked up, from where she was licking her fur, at the new person in the room. She tilted her head and her green eyes stared at Natasha. It was eery. Clint really really missed Lucky. Lucky never judged his friends. 

“I’m not sure she is a cat.” He whispered. Natasha just rolled her eyes and went to pick up the feline. Within seconds the black cat was purring happily and meowing as Natasha asked her stupid questions. “Ok maybe I need some help.” He relented. Natasha was apparently crazy good with cats, even ones that were the devil.

The deal was they had a week to house train their new pet and whichever bet was best behaved by the end of the week would win. The winner would get the chance to write the losers responses to the next interview they had. Clint already had a pretty good idea of what he’d make Iron Man say and it was going to be hilarious. Natasha wasn’t officially part of the bet but she figured that Bruce was helping Tony so Clint should get help too. They had just about managed to teach Betty what a litter tray was by the end of the week and she would even sit on cue. Apparently you could train a cat. Every time he saw Tony with Lucky he felt a little sad but Tony looked equally miserable when he saw Betty sat on top of Clint’s shoulder. Clint had to admit he was starting to care about the black fur ball. She followed him and Nat around the Avengers facility and he woke up more than once with her dark green eyes staring at his and her tail tickling his chest. He always felt a little smug when he managed to get her to purr.

“Alright Legolas. Let’s do this. One semi housetrained mutt coming your way.” Tony smirked as he trotted happily into the communal lounge. Lucky lopped along behind him with his tongue out. He was a brighter golden colour than when Clint first adopted him. Bruce had probably given the three-legged mutt a bath, not a bad idea, even Clint could admit he was a little stinky at first. 

They took turns at showing off the tricks they’d managed to teach the animals. Everyone could admit that Tony and Bruce had won the bet when Lucky rolled over and played dead on command. Clint groaned as Tony cackled evilly. The next press conference was gonna be hell. The biggest surprise though was when Betty hopped off of Clint’s shoulder and curled up next to Lucky. The dog sniffed Betty curiously and she bobbed him on the nose with her paw. He looked a little confused but his tail started to wag and he lay down next to the smaller animal. There was no barking or hissing or any animosity between the two animals. Bruce was the only one that didn’t seem at all fazed by this new development. 

“Looks like they’re friends after all” Bruce smiled and took a photo of the pair on his phone. “Guess that means we won’t have to get rid of the mutt. Right Tony?” 

Tony scowled and muttered something under his breath then stalked out the room. Bruce chuckled and ran his hands through his hair. 

“What did he say?” Natasha asked from where she was sat cross-legged on the sofa. 

“Maybe Lucky’s not so bad.” Bruce laughed. “You know he hates to admit when he’s wrong. He was completely smitten within an hour.” 

“Sir would like to say that that is absolutely not true.” FRIDAY chimed. “Sir is lying.” 

Clint grinned and sat next to his dog. Lucky put his head of his lap and Betty meowed happily. “Well done boy. I knew you could win.” He nuzzled his face into the dog’s fur. He reached out and stroked his hands through Betty’s soft black fur. “And I guess you weren’t too bad either.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! Comments/Kudos are awesome. You can find me on Tumblr @avengersbarnes for more MCU (and Stucky content). I love getting prompts about anything marvel (or my other fandoms)


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